The Crusader column in The Daily Express recently came to ClearDebt for some advice on how to help a woman who felt she had been unfairly treated by her debt management company.

ClearDebt looked into the case of Elizabeth Bastow who had been paying into her debt plan for five years and still owed more than 50% of her initial debts. Her debt management company had not arranged with her creditors to freeze the interest on her debts and they had retained around £2,000 – £3,000 as their fee. Andrew Smith, Marketing Director at ClearDebt noted the following about her case:

If an IVA had been do-able, by August 2007 we have calculated Ms Bastow would have paid £12,000 and the remaining debt written off. As it was she still owed more than £11,000

Elizabeth is following up a formal complaint against her debt management company and in the meantime has taken up ClearDebt’s offer to help her with her debt problems by waiving their administration fee. She commented

I’m so grateful, it’s just wonderful to have people who care

You can read more about Elizabeth’s story on the Daily Express website here: The Debt Plan That Didn’t Pay Off and read more comments from the people we’ve helped on our client testimonials page: What people say about ClearDebt.

If you are in need of some debt advice get in touch by calling 0800 019 2095 or by taking the ClearDebt online debt analyser.

I recently came across a discussion on the mumsnet.com forums about a woman who was secretly poor.

From the outside it looked like she was well off enough, with a “a lovely house filled with expensive furniture and nice clothes in the wardrobe” but the truth was she and her family were struggling to pay their bills and her property was in negative equity. The post received a lot of replies from seemingly middle-class people in similar situations, all trying to keep up the appearance that all was well, and secretly battling to manage their finances and debts.

As a company in the debt industry we’ve seen a reluctance in people to talk openly about their debts with others. Perhaps it’s the idea that irresponsible spending has caused the debts. Whilst this may be the case for some (such as Daily Mail columnist Liz Jones) most ordinary people are struggling with debt because of redundancies, unemployment and other economic factors.

A recent report showed individual UK debt is on the increase, so it’s not surprising that debt is affecting all kinds of people, whether they appear to be in a well-paid profession, or have a nice looking house.

If you’re one of the “secretly poor” people, ClearDebt have set up their online community to offer advice and answer any questions you may have about debt. You can post a question under an anonymous username and one of our expert debt advisors will reply back with an answer. Visit the ClearDebt Community now, or complete our online contact form and we will call you back.

The BBC Radio 4, consumer affairs programme Your & Yours recently interviewed Andrew Smith, marketing director of ClearDebt.

Listen or download the podcast below, or listen to it from the BBC website about debt management companies.

Please note, there is also a more detailed blog post by Andrew about this topic of debt help and value for money.

It’s rare I’m ever lost for words but after watching the Dispatches programme on Marlin, I was both shocked and dismayed that companies like this are still getting away with harassing and bullying people with debt worries.  http://tinyurl.com/kkbs28

In the words of my daughter….OMG!!!!!

I’ve worked in this industry for over 30 years and know that with the work of companies like my own, and the Debt Resolution Forum, we are able to speak up for ethics and protocol within this industry, and that we will eventually see a passing of companies who prey on the weak in times of need.  I’m guessing…this is not so.  At least, not yet.

It’s amazing to even think, the people who work in these companies can sleep at night – soundly! I was appalled at how they laughed each time they finished speaking to a debtor to imply they were taking court action against them, moving forward with legal proceedings to take their home away, or making them bankrupt.  The manipulation was just disgusting as I listened to them justify how they played around with words such as “may” and “might” to ensure they were “legally covered” .  I couldn’t believe the constant foul language and hand gestures and the total dis-regard for real people who have real lives and are doing what they can to pay back the debt they owe.

As I indicated at the beginning of this blog, our industry has often been tarnished with a bad reputation, and to fight back and make sure there is a clear divide between the good, bad and just plain ugly, myself and other respectable contemporaries have worked hard to prove to debtors that some organisations can help.  Some companies do care and will do their best to make a difference to your life in a positive way.

In the last 2 years alone, there has been a visible surge of activity within my own organisation to not just offer debt solutions to our clients but to also provide other tools which will help you to help yourself.  We provide guides and money management tools such as ClearCash to help you build towards a more stable future – one with no debt. A future where worries of a certain nature are left where they belong – in the past.

It’s one thing hearing about the underhand tactics of debt collection agencies – but hearing and seeing it first hand on last night’s programme is completely different.  Shocking on a whole new level.  If you didn’t catch it, you can see it on http://tinyurl.com/kkbs28 – Channel 4 offer a tool called 4oD which is similar to BBC’s iplayer so you can watch the episode online.

In the light of day, at least 12 hours after watching the documentary on Marlin, I’m still a little lost for words and deeply saddened that companies like this, are still surviving in our industry.  So, whilst I try and collate my thoughts together – please share yours on this very worrying topic.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me!”

It seems that for many people in Britain, assumptions are being made about of lot of things.  People assume only a certain type of person falls into debt, and others assume only a certain type of person has no debt, and what follows from all these assumptions is that the solutions to debt are tagged as “get out jail free” cards.  They’re not.

So imagine my shock, when seeing msn money news yesterday, and reading an article claiming IVAs are the easy way out, followed by a very vague and blasé article damning all commercial debt management companies and shedding a ray of angelic light on those who do the same job under the title of not-for-profit.  If it’s still there, you can see it at:

http://money.uk.msn.com/consumer/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=15538925&dub-gallery-photo-number=1

I suspect the journalist behind the article either didn’t take the time to collate her facts, or at some time, had her own brush with debt and has now tarnished all debt related companies with the brush of the shoddy company she went to…. (the latter statement is actually an example of an “assumption”…if she’s reading this, I wanted to demonstrate what an assumption feels like so she can understand how I felt when reading all the assumptions she made in this article.)
So without further ado, I’d like to make a few facts known:

- Although the article wasn’t about us specifically, speaking from ClearDebt’s point of view, we’ve worked hard to prove ourselves as one the most trusted debt solution providers in this industry.  Through our hard work, we’ve helped raise the bar with our counterparts on the ethics and service levels provided to clients and creditors.

- Unlike the implication made in the msn money news story, creditors don’t dictate the monthly repayment fee, but work closely with clients to agree a repayment level, which is affordable, based on individual income and expenditure.  In some cases, repayments can be as low as 15p in the £1.

- Unlike this journo implies, an IVA doesn’t take a limitless amount of years, but more often than not, lasts 5 years.
For such a respected news brand, I’m surprised such a blasé news article would be released. It’s both inaccurate and offensive to many people who are in an IVA and doing their best to face up to their situation, swallow their pride, and repay the debt they owe; Furthermore, I’m quite sure this piece offends anyone who works in the industry and like me, takes their work very seriously.  We do all we can to ensure we provide an honest and highly supportive service to both our clients and creditors – to read articles like this, is just disappointing and misleading on so many levels.